Two inquiries opened after pupils filmed singing rap in Vendée church

Two criminal investigations are under way in France after a group of minors was filmed in a church in the Vendée singing a rap song that names terrorists, a video that spread rapidly on social networks and was followed by threats against the children and their families.

The footage was shot on Sunday 4 October in the Église Saint-Hilaire de Soullans. Around ten minors, aged between 12 and 14, can be seen dancing, climbing on the altar and repeating the lyrics of a track by the rapper Boro 700 that refers to Mohammed Merah, responsible for the Toulouse killings, and Salah Abdeslam, convicted over the November 2015 attacks. One inquiry, into "apologie du terrorisme" (glorification of terrorism), has been opened by the prosecutor's office in La Roche-sur-Yon. A second, into death threats, has been opened by the prosecutor's office in Les Sables-d'Olonne after threats targeting the adolescents and their families were circulated on social networks. The prosecutor's office for minors has also opened an inquiry, according to public reporting by France Télévisions.

By Tuesday 6 October the video had gone viral. The diocese of Luçon described what happened as a "profanation" and a serious attack on a place of worship and on the calm of the parish community. On site, objects had been overturned and burn marks were found on the pews, and the town of Soullans has filed a complaint. The diocese has closed the church until 12 October and suspended its usual services, and a "reparation" mass is planned for later.

Calls for calm

Parents and their children, pupils at a Catholic school in the area, went voluntarily to the gendarmerie of Saint-Jean-de-Monts on the Tuesday, according to reports in the French press. The mayor of Soullans, Vincent Jolly, wrote in a statement carried by Ici Loire Océan that everything pointed to the children not having fully grasped the meaning of some of the lyrics, which did not remove their responsibility but called for an educational, considered and proportionate response. Insults, threats, public accusations and the blaming of families on social networks, he wrote, do not help resolve the situation.

The footage was filmed as part of a trend, a format copied by users on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram. The diocese has asked worshippers not to give in to "l'amalgame ni à l'esprit de vengeance": neither conflation nor vengefulness.

That a clip like this can spread across platforms within days, and be followed by threats against children and their families, is part of a wider debate about how social media rewards shocking content that draws attention. It is one reason a growing number of court cases against social media companies now ask whether platform design puts children at risk, and it sits behind measures such as the UK under-16 social media ban. Parents worried about their children's social media use can find guidance written for them.